On board to ‘Do Good’

Originally published October 9, 2011 at 7:47 pm

Updated October 9, 2011 at 10:46 pm

Sheldon Botler, left, croons tunes for the volunteers at Pigeon Point Park as part of the Do Good Bus community-service project Sunday. The Los Angeles-based indie-pop trio, Foster the People, is participating in the venture.

Program members John Grindle and Rebecca Pontius, both in green T-shirts, greet those who gathered in the Sodo District to hop on the Do Good Bus.

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Twenty-five fans of the Los Angeles music group Foster the People boarded the Do Good Bus, a community-service venture, Sunday morning at Showbox in the Sodo District for a trip to an unknown location, to participate in a mystery service project.

Twenty-five fans of the Los Angeles music group Foster the People boarded the Do Good Bus, a community-service venture, Sunday morning at Showbox in the Sodo District for a trip to an unknown location, to participate in a mystery service project.

The bus dropped them at Pigeon Point Park, part of the West Duwamish Greenbelt, the largest forest in Seattle. There, volunteers joined members of the Nature Consortium to work on greenbelt restoration, and to create terrariums out of recycled materials and some native plants

“As forests all around the city are declining; this green space is a crucial part of our city life, especially as natural buffer from the pollution in the Duwamish industrial corridor,” said Nancy Whitlock, executive director of the Nature Consortium. The Do Good Bus is accompanying the band on its “Foster the Future” fall tour. The bus organizers hope to “do good” by giving people opportunities to volunteer with local organizations.

“Going out and volunteering sounds simple, but many people don’t volunteer because they don’t know where to start,” said Mark Foster, lead singer of Foster the People. “When we first started the band, our main focus — besides music — was to do something that would help people. We didn’t have any specific cause in mind, but we knew we wanted to get involved in charity work.”

Foster called the Do Good Bus a perfect fit for the band’s goals “because we’ll do something different every day that will match the needs of the city we’re in,” he said. “It’s a great way to show people how to volunteer and will hopefully inspire them to continue volunteering where they live.”

In the weeks leading up to the tour, Foster the People fans applied online for spots on the bus. As part of their applications, volunteers explained what community meant to them. Fans also nominated organizations for potential service projects.